At a time in the season when many teams are concerned with staying in contention for a conference title and strengthening their resume in anticipation of securing a good seed in the NCAA Tournament, Oklahoma is struggling just to find a way to win a game.
The Sooners can't wait for the month of January to close its doors for business. Oklahoma (11-10, 1-7) opened the month and the new year with a home win over Ole Miss, but since then, the bottom has fallen out. The OU men have lost seven straight games, including the last three they've played at home. The Sooners are just three shy of tying the program record of 10 consecutive losses set in 1964.
Oklahoma is hoping to end the month the same way it started it, but to do that, the Sooners will have to defeat hated Red River rival Texas (12-9, 3-5), which has won its last six visits to Lloyd Noble Center and seven of the last eight against the Sooners under Porter Moser. The last time Oklahoma won a game at home against the Longhorns was in 2019, and that was by two points, 69-67.
Moser is just 1-7 against Texas in his five seasons in Norman, which is another factor weighing against his immediate job security at the helm of the Sooner program.
Saturday's matchup in Norman will be the 108th meeting in the Red River hoops rivalry, which began in 1910 but has not been played every season like in the classic football rivalry between the two schools. It will be the first of two OU-Texas games this season. The second contest will be played on March 7 in Austin on the final weekend of the regular season.
Despite the Sooners' recent struggles on the hardwood against the Longhorns, Oklahoma leads the all-time series 58-49.
The game on Saturday will be televised on ESPN2. Roy Philpott (play-by-play) and Jon Crispin (analysis) will be on the call.
What to know about Texas men's basketball
Texas averages 85.9 points per game this season with four starters contributing in double figures. Junior Dailyn Swain, a transfer from Xavier, leads the Longhorns with a 17.5 scoring average. In his past three games, however, Swain is averaging 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.3 steals. Senior Jordan Pope averages 13.0 and torched the Sooners a year ago with 27- and 21-point performances. Pope is the team's best three-point shooter, averaging 35.8% from behind the arc.
Texas is a good rebounding team, ranking in the top six in the league and averaging 39.7 total and 13.0 offensive rebounds per game. The Horns also get to the free-thow line a lot. They average 22 trips to the free-throw line per game and 20 points on free throws per game.
The Longhorns and Sooners have played two common SEC opponents. Texas won at Alabama 92-88, lost to Mississippi State 101-98 in overtime and lost to Texas A&M 74-70. Oklahoma lost to all three: 83-81 to Alabama, 72-53 at Mississippi State and 83-76 at Texas A&M.
What to know about Oklahoma men's basketball
Texas is a good shooting team -- third in the SEC with a field-goal percentage of 49.1 -- which is a problem for Oklahoma because the Sooners are not particularly good on defense, especially against talented SEC opponents. OU ranks 13th out of 16 SEC teams with an opponents' field goal percentage of 43.6.
Oklahoma's offense generally this season has gone as fifth-year senior guard Nijil Pack goes. In his last two games, Packed has scored 25 and 22 points, respectively, to lead the Sooners. OU lost those two games, but by a combined three points despite a couple of their best offensive performances of the season against SEC opponents. Oklahoma needs another highly productive game from Pack against Texas to at least keep it close and give the Sooners a chance to win.
Oklahoma is averaging 83.5 points per game, and the Sooners are 10-2 when they score 84 or more points. They've scored as many as 85 points just twice, however, in eight games since Jan. 1 and split those two games.
Stat watch
When opponents score at least 80 points against Oklahoma this season, the Sooners are 0-9. Texas has scored 80 or more points in six of its last 8 games, all against SEC opponents.
Prediction for Red River Rivalry
This is not a good matchup for Oklahoma, and the timing is terrible. The losing streak continues.